前
Tap the pinyin to hear it
front; forward; ahead; first; top (followed by a number); future; ago; before; BC (e.g. 前293年); former; formerly
- HSK 3.0
- Level 1
- Old HSK
- Level 1
- Strokes
- 9
- Radical
- 刀 +7
- Structure
- Top–bottom 上下
- Traditional
- 前
- Common rank
- #155
- Unicode
- U+524D
Sound it out + + =
Formation & memory
Break the character into parts you already know.
How 前 is formed
How to remember it
in front · Heisig RSH #303
horns + butcher — as a component also called: butcher shop
Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.
Words with 前
The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 前天 | the day before yesterday | |
| 前边 | front; the front side; in front of | |
| 大前天 | three days ago | |
| 前一天 | the day before (an event) | |
| 前金区 | Cianjin, a district of Kaohsiung City 高雄市[Gao1 xiong2 Shi4], Taiwan | |
| 前人 | predecessor; forebears; the person facing you | |
| 前头 | in front; at the head; ahead; above | |
| 大不如前 | a lot worse than it used to be | |
| 前生 | previous life; previous incarnation | |
| 生前 | (of a deceased) during one's life; while living | |
| 前儿 | before; day before yesterday | |
| 台前县 | Taiqian, a county in Puyang City 濮陽市|濮阳市[Pu2 yang2 Shi4], Henan | |
| 前金 | see 前金區|前金区[Qian2 jin1 Qu1] | |
| 前行 | (literary) to go forward | |
| 前无古人 | (idiom) unprecedented; unheard of | |
| 上前 | to advance; to step forward | |
| 大前年 | three years ago | |
| 前无古人，后无来者 | there has never been and never will be another person like this (idiom); never done before… | |
| 前体 | (chemistry, biology) precursor | |
| 前面 | ahead; in front; preceding; above; also pr. [qian2 mian5] |
Sound family
These characters use 前 as their sound component — compare how they read.